The field of the invention relates generally to a tray formed from a blank of sheet material and, more particularly, to a tray for supporting a plurality of containers during shipment of the containers and for displaying the containers at a point of sale
It is a known practice to employ trays and cartons to store and transport sales articles from the manufacturer to the place of sale, such as a retail store. Typically, these cartons are formed from at least one blank made of corrugated paperboard which is suitably cut, scored and folded to produce a generally rectangular shaped box. Once the carton reaches the place of sale, the articles are unpackaged from the carton and are typically placed on display shelves. One drawback of such cartons is that a significant amount of labor is required to remove the articles from the container and, in turn, place them on the display shelves.
It is known that some cartons can be utilized to ship the sales articles and are convertible into a display device at the place of sale, thereby eliminating the labor required in transferring the articles from the carton to the shelves of the place of sale. However, these convertible cartons do not typically hold the sales articles in place during shipment, and do not easily display the articles at the point of sale.
At least some known trays are configured to hold a plurality of containers therein. Most of these known trays are formed from a relatively large blank having a plurality of panels that fold and/or wrap to define container holders. More specifically, the plurality of panels form a rectangular tube having cutouts into which the containers are inserted. Because these trays are formed from a relatively large blank of sheet material they can be expensive to make. Moreover, because of the plurality of panels, they can be complicated to form.
Accordingly, it desirable to provide a tray that can be used to hold a plurality of containers during shipment, and can be easily converted into a display tray that can be placed on shelves for displaying said plurality of containers at a point of sale.